Department of State Washington File: Text: Justice Dept. Assesses U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking

*EPF411 08/21/2003
Text: Justice Dept. Assesses U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking
(U.S. goal is to help one victim at a time, new report says) (1400)

The U.S. goal is to continue on the road to abolishing and eradicating trafficking in persons by helping one victim at a time, according to a new Justice Department report released August 21.

The report, entitled "Assessment of U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons," says the United States has a significant problem with trafficking in persons, with an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people trafficked annually into the country. An estimated 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year -- having been bought, sold, transported and held in slavery-like conditions for sex and labor exploitation.

The report emphasizes that the United States is primarily a destination country, with people from other countries being trafficked into the United States. The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 mandates an evaluation of progress made in the areas of U.S. trafficking prevention, prosecution and assistance to victims.

With this in mind, the following assessment reviews U.S. legislative and executive branch government activities to improve protections for and assistance to victims trafficked into the United States, to increase successful investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, and to augment international activities to combat trafficking.

"In the United States, our goal is to continue on the road to abolishing and eradicating trafficking in persons by helping one victim at a time, funding one victim assistance organization at a time, investigating and prosecuting one trafficker at a time ... and encouraging one world community to adhere to the precepts of the U.N. Protocol on trafficking in persons," the report says.

The report's recommendations for improving U.S. anti-trafficking activities include, among others, continuing outreach efforts to inform the public about trafficking, continuing training for federal agents and prosecutors on identifying victims of trafficking and prosecuting trafficking in persons cases, and supporting public-private partnerships in the international arena to integrate at-risk populations into the community and workforce.

Following is the text of the introduction, conclusion and recommendations of the report:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Justice
August 21, 2003

ASSESSMENT OF U.S. ACTIVITIES TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

INTRODUCTION

[T]rafficking is nothing less than a modern form of slavery, an unspeakable and unforgivable crime against the most vulnerable members of the global society.

President George W. Bush
October 2, 2002

Trafficking in persons is a heinous international crime and human rights abuse. The global magnitude is staggering. According to a 2003 U.S. Government estimate, 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year having been bought, sold, transported and held in slavery-like conditions for sex and labor exploitation. The U.S. Government estimates that 18,000 to 20,000 people are trafficked annually into the United States. The nature of this crime -- underground, often under-acknowledged -- contributes to the inability to determine the precise number of people who are victimized by traffickers each year. The scope of this hideous exploitation is wide and varied, but typically involves victims entrapped into commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution and pornography, or labor exploitation in sweatshops, construction sites and agricultural settings. Additional forms of forced labor and abuse include domestic servitude and forced marriages.

In an era of improved technology, it has become much easier for traffickers -- and their victims -- to move freely across borders. Trafficking is now a transnational criminal enterprise that recognizes neither boundaries nor borders. Profits from trafficking feed into the coffers of organized crime. Trafficking is linked to other criminal activities such as document fraud, money laundering and migrant smuggling. Moreover, as a matter of policy, the U.S. Government opposes prostitution and any related activities as contributing to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons. These activities are inherently harmful and dehumanizing.

The United States has a significant problem with trafficking in persons. The United States is primarily a destination country: people from other countries are trafficked into the United States. As Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has noted: "Trafficking leaves no land untouched, including our own." The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), Pub. L. 106-386, mandated the Department of State to produce annually a trafficking in persons report, which assesses the efforts of governments around the world to meet minimum standards to combat trafficking (TVPA § 110(b)(1)). That report documents the transnational and intranational forms of trafficking. Section 105(d)(2) of the TVPA mandates an evaluation of the progress of the United States in the areas of trafficking prevention, prosecution and assistance to victims. The U.S. Government has therefore prepared the following Assessment of U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The Assessment reviews U.S. legislative and executive branch government activities to improve U.S. protections for and assistance to victims trafficked into the United States, to increase successful investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, and to augment international activities to combat trafficking. This Assessment also suggests possible improvements that the U.S. Government may undertake to enhance activities to combat trafficking in persons. This Assessment contrasts current activities with the recommendations put forward in a 2000 assessment of U.S. anti-trafficking activities entitled, International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime (hereinafter referred to as the "2000 Trafficking Monograph").(1) The 2000 Trafficking Monograph provides a useful measure by which we can evaluate our anti-trafficking activities in 2003 and see ways to move forward.(2)

CONCLUSION

In a world in which corruption, crime, poverty, inequality, low status of women and girls, and civil conflict show few signs of abating, individuals will continue to be at risk of being trafficked. In the United States, our goal is to continue on the road to abolishing and eradicating trafficking in persons by helping one victim at a time, funding one victim assistance organization at a time, investigating and prosecuting one trafficker at a time, training one law enforcement officer at a time, writing one good anti-trafficking law at a time, influencing one foreign government at a time through diplomacy and the possibility of sanctions, and encouraging one world community to adhere to the precepts of the UN Protocol on trafficking in persons. The U.S. Government's successes, and similarly the international community's successes, are alternately incremental and monumental, measured in small steps and occasional large leaps. The accumulation of small steps leads eventually to a comprehensive approach to eliminate human trafficking. The occasional large leap -- such as working with countries that face sanctions because they are not meeting minimum standards to eliminate trafficking -- helps as well. Such incremental and, where possible, monumental successes should be the mandate to countries around the world, including the United States, until there are no victims and we have ensured that there will be no more victims. As Attorney General John Ashcroft stated in 2003: "Those who traffic in human lives treat people as easily expendable and highly profitable. But behind each dollar sign is a human tragedy." The U.S. Government aims to remedy such human tragedy one victim at a time. Our Assessment chronicles our work-in-progress on such remedies and identifies future priorities.

Recommendations for Improvement of U.S. Government
Anti-Trafficking Activities

1. Determine whether comprehensive services are being provided in the appropriate geographical locations.

2. Reassess repatriation efforts in light of the demand for them by trafficking victims.

3. Assess whether eligibility standards for immigration benefits are appropriate in light of the demand for them by trafficking victims.

4. Continue outreach efforts to inform the public about trafficking and monitor their success.

5. Continue training for federal agents and prosecutors to identify victims of trafficking and to investigate and prosecute trafficking in persons cases.

6. Continue current outreach efforts to state and local law enforcement and find new ways of raising awareness about trafficking in persons.

7. Support public-private partnerships in the international arena to integrate at-risk populations into the community and workforce.

8. Collect better information internationally on trafficking trends, numbers of victims, prosecutions and convictions.

9. Increase U.S. Government efforts to warn the public about the purchase of products made with trafficked persons' labor.

10. Ratify the UN Protocol on trafficking in persons.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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